Editorial: State has halted two massive computer upgrades on which it spent more than $389 million

Whitman, now CEO of Hewlett-Packard, lavished $144 million of her own money on her failed bid to best Jerry Brown in the 2010 gubernatorial race.

On Thursday, state legislators were told the Department of Motor Vehicles has halted a $208 million overhaul of its vehicle registration and driver's license technology halfway through the project because the contractor was making scant progress.

Among the promises Whitman made as a candidate was to save taxpayers money by upgrading state government's antiquated computer systems.

But California has already paid nearly $50 million to the contractor, HP Enterprise Services, a subsidiary of Whitman's company. In all, DMV has spent $135 million on the failed project, but a spokesman said the department will not pay HP Enterprise Services the remaining $26 million in its contract.

A state report issued in December said the contractor had been unable to complete some tasks. Faulty computer coding and critical

positions left vacant were cited as contributing to project delays, the Los Angeles Times reported.

When the DMV project started in 2007, the contractor was called Electronic Data Systems. That company was bought by Hewlett-Packard and renamed HP Enterprise Services.

Whitman took over Hewlett-Packard in 2011 and is trying to turn the computer giant's fortunes around. Tongue was in cheek when we suggested that the failed DMV project might be her revenge on state taxpayers.

Actually, California government has suffered a rash of expensive technology failures.

Earlier this month, the State Controller's Office fired the contractor responsible for upgrading and modernizing the computer network that issues paychecks to state employees.

The state had spent $254 million toward that $371 million project, the Times reported, including more than $50 million to the contractor, SAP Public Services. A spokesman said the Controller's Office would try to recoup the money paid to SAP.

State officials said SAP's program made errors at more than 100 times the rate of the outdated payroll system it was supposed to replace.

SAP took over the project three years ago after the previous contractor couldn't get it done.

Now it appears that the project, dubbed the 21st Century Project, will stretch on indefinitely toward the 22nd century.

SAP also was the contractor for Los Angeles Unified School District's catastrophic attempt to upgrade its payroll system in 2007.

The California Technology Agency, which oversees state computer initiatives, had to break the news to the Legislature on Thursday that a second wildly expensive project was canceled with nothing to show for it. For the two projects, that's $389 million down the drain. Carlos Ramos, secretary of the California Technology Agency, might want to spend a little time updating his resum .

You'd think in California, the home of Silicon Valley, government could find some contractors capable of installing big computer systems.